In partnership with BeNt Shadows House Concerts & Cindy McClellan, we are hosting a house concert at Espressions: Coffee & Community featuring the ever-talented Dustin Gaspard.

This show is on a SUNDAY! Yep, so that means we are opening Espressions: Coffee & Community just for this show. We'll be open from 1-5 p.m.

The show begins at 2 p.m. the entire shop beverage and meal menu will be open to order from! Dustin is in town for the weekend as he will also be playing out at Prairie Plains- Party on the Prairie on June 8th. We are so excited he offered to do a show for us too! He has played with a couple of times and we loved him!! There is no cover for this show. He is playing for tips! Come help fill his pockets, enjoy some coffee and live music!

Now more about Dustin Dale Gaspard. Here is his bio:

Dustin Dale Gaspard hails from the rural southern community of Cow Island Louisiana, a landscape of mysterious rich marshland, ancient shrouding oak trees, and dream inducing nights/ days. The open pastures, whispering cane fields, and smothering earth tones offer him a creative canvas to color with the soundscape of his original music. His Atmospheric and cryptic tunes are influenced by the land that raised him. "There’s an alchemy to Dustin Dale Gaspard’s sound which will become more than perceptible once you hit play "- AnR Music FactorY

Cow Island, La. (January 2021)-
The humble mumbles of melody were heavy on Gaspard's heart ever since the passing of his grandfather in Oct. 2020. Now, his grandmother embarks on that same journey, and the stir for immortalizing their legacy through song could wait no longer. On a cold January night, Gaspard would begin humming the title of the record to the moonlit sky, and in the following days he would deal with his loss by planning an honorary album titled "Hoping Heaven Got A Kitchen".

Set to release Feb. 28th, 2022, this record will pay homage to the land that raised him, the sounds of the Cajun south, and the memory of his grandparents, Emily and Berton, who passed during quarantine. Gaspard takes listeners from the Cajun country kitchens, greased by maw's fryer, all the way to muddy marsh landscapes leading to his pawpaw's camp. The name "Hoping Heaven Got A Kitchen" comes from him knowing that if there is a place better, it'll need a kitchen for the two of them to do what they loved.

This will be Gaspard's first full band release, in strong contrast to both 2019's self-produced solo acoustic demo "Porcelain Prayer Tapes" and his 2020 folk quartet EP "In Callow Comfort." This 12 song album will feature all tunes written and arranged by Gaspard with the exception of vintage Swamp Pop covers of Van Broussard's 1968 hit "Feed The Flame" and local legend Rod Bernard's 1959 classic "This Should Go On Forever." All arrangements are heavily influenced by folk, roots, blues, soul and Cajun genres. The songs use instrumentation like upright bass, piano, slide guitar, fiddles, percussion and accordion. To give more credence to his Cajun heritage, twice Gaspard sings in his grandparents' native tongue of French, as was a wish of theirs ever since he was young.

Again, Dustin is playing for tips! Come help fill the jar and enjoy some great music.

Private Lunch Catering

Looking for Booklovers!
We would love to fill our shop with friends discussing the written word over coffee!
Lisa's book club is every Monday at 5:30 - the current book is "Servant in the lost Realm" by Kay Kenyon. New members are always welcome...even mid-way through the book!

Looking for Booklovers!
We would love to fill our shop with friends discussing the written word over coffee!
Maile's book club is every Tuesday at 5:00! Her club's current read, "The Voyage of the Don Treader", a book of the Chronicals of Narnia.
All are welcome!!!

MAPS stands for Management + Assessment + Planning = Success! It is all about team.

It is all about team. During MAPS: Youth Team Experience, we focus on communication, planning /calendars, getting to know each other, setting your intentions for the year, assessing the past year and planning for the future they want to build and their responsibility to make that happen, etc.

This event is limited to no more than 3 teams. Each team will get individual time with a Facilitator as well as team work time.

MAPS: Youth Team Experience check-in will begin at 9 a.m. with the conference kicking off at 10:15 a.m. on Day 1. The conference will conclude at 4:00 p.m. on Day 2.

Registration closes 10 days before event. $40.00/$42.50 of your registration is non-refundable. No refunds will be issued 10 or less days before conference begins.

Conference Fee: $160.00 per student/ $170.00 per advisor/coach

*Advisors/Coaches will be housed in hotel rooms.

Come and hang out with fellow chess enthusiasts! All levels of experience are welcome and encouraged. Enjoy a drink or a snack while you play a game or two!

We are so excited to welcome the IA/NE Quilting Friends Retreat to The Leadership Center. Your retreat will take place in the Lakeside room. During your stay, you will be staying in Keiwit Lodge and enjoying your meals in Mather Hall. The beverage station will be available to you during your entire stay as well. Also, we have a pool, dry sauna and beautiful grounds to enjoy when you think you need a break from stitching. Knowing that some of you are traveling from a distance, though the retreat does conclude on Saturday evening, you are welcome to rent your lodge room until Sunday.

We are looking forward to seeing you all!

PS: Registration closes on June 6, 2024 at 3:00 p.m. Should you have questions, need assistance, or need to cancel, please call 402-694-3934. Cancelations will be accepted for a full refund up to June 6th, 2024 at 3:00 p.m.

PSS: If you come in Wednesday, rooms will not be availabe to check in to until 4 p.m. and your quilting room will not be available until Thursday morning. Thank you.

While you grab a cup of coffee or another beverage and enjoy a little time, your child can join us for for Stories. Adventure awaits, inside the pages of our books. Join us for Stories, and develop a love of books and literarture. Craft of activities will follow the story.

For children, ages 3-8. We ask that children are not just dropped off for storytime as this is not daycare.

Thank you.

Set goal. Set Plans. Set Sail.

Set your SAE, work-based learning project, or business, up for success!

Who is this for?

High school students who are interested in strengthening their Supervised Agricultural Experience, work-based learning project, or business.

What do Sailors get?

Sailors will receive intentional, goal driven mentorship by crew directors from The Leadership Center, record book experts, and successful students to strengthen new or existing SAE's or work-based learning projects and learn how to keep records, set goals, and other skills. PLUS network and meet other students and have tons of fun.

When is it?

Sail is a 1 day conference with options for lodging before and after for individuals or groups!

In life, we will take part in many journeys: some big, some small, some hard, some easy, some challenge us, and most form us. Some journeys are designed to be taken alone; you are the captain, the skipper, the navigator, the engineer, and everything in between. Some journeys, though, are not meant to be that way.

One of these is the search for a fulfilling career.

The Leadership Center is seeking students who are not afraid to take a new route, not afraid to try a new destination, and who will commit to the journey. It’s okay if you’ve never captained anything like this before, that’s why we are here!

If accepted to set “Sail” with The Leadership Center, students will remain the captain of their journey, but we will join their crew. Sometimes, the student needs an engineer to help solve problems, a skipper to double check their safety, or help reading the map: where should they go next? More importantly, where could they go next?!

**If students have a computer, please bring it with.

"Cain's Jawbone" is a murder mystery puzzle written by "Torquemada"-Edward Powys Mathers. The puzzle was first published in 1934 as part of The Torquemada Puzzle Book. In 2019, crowdfunding publisher Unbound published a new stand-alone edition of the puzzle in collaboration with the charity The Laurence Sterne Trust.

Cain's Jawbone has been described as "one of the hardest and most beguiling word puzzles ever published. This summer, we're hosting "Friday Night Murder Club" at Espressions. Our hope is to transform a shop wall into a crime board as we work to solve the 6 murders in the book. Join us for a cup of coffee and a bite to eat as we move the pages around in this great mystery looking for the solution. Come when you can or come each Friday! We'll see you there.

It is not nessary, but if you'd like to get a copy of "Cain's Jawbone", we have a link below.

We are going on a board game adventure! Come and play a new game or bring an old favorite! Bring your friends and family too!

This event allows us to provide a space for our community to gather, connect, and enjoy some fun over coffee.

We hope you'll join us!

Our "Chronicles of Narnia" book club will be held twice a week at Espressions: Coffee & Community! If you miss the Tuesday meeting - no worries! Stop by on Saturday. Both clubs will be following the same reading schedule.

We are eager to connect kids to great books! Participants of all ages are welcome to join as we embark on an adventure to Narnia. We are also still seeking donations of "The Chronicles of Narnia" by C.S. Lewis - each donation makes the book club more accessible to the little bookworms of our community!

We will be reading 3 chapters each week. Show up on the first day to receive the reading schedule!

Local artist Cindy McClellan is offering a squeegee painting workshop at our coffee shop from 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. In this class you will learn how to lay out your paint and squeegee away the excess to reveal an exciting, abstract image!

This class is limited to 8 people. You must register in advance. All your supplies are provided. The cost to participate is $30.00. We hope you'll join us for a cup of coffee or tea and get your creative juices flowing!

Cindy's Bio:
Cindy McClellan is from Aurora, Nebraska. She has been showing art in galleries since 1995. Her primary focus is on simple shapes. The pieces are influenced by simple lines and shadows found in everyday objects.